Altogether, that’s over a million acres now protected from development.
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And Sen. Harry Reid, the state’s most influential supporter of the Basin and Range Monument, says those timeless features will long outlast critics who say he and President Barack Obama moved too fast in designating more than 800,000 acres in Lincoln and Nye counties for protection.
“Any decisions that restrict ranching, recreation or other types of land-use activities should have as much local input as possible”, said Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., who shepherded an amendment into the recent Interior Department spending bill which would block the president from creating monuments in areas where there has been local opposition.
The three new sites bring to 19 the number of monuments Obama has created or expanded. Throughout the area, ancient rock art over 4000 years old has been found making the site an important resource for archaeologists and historians. The areas chosen “demonstrate the wide range of historic and cultural values that make America’s public lands so beloved”, according to a the White House statement.
[Sen. Boxer] – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) praised President Obama Friday for using his authority to designate the Berryessa Snow Mountain region as a National Monument.
“The Waco Mammoth National Monument will engage students, visitors, and scientists alike with the story of these extinct mammoths”, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said.
Obama’s designation ends a fight started by ex- Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.
Waco Mammoth National Monument, a Texas site that’s home to the largest-known concentration of Columbian mammoths and already receives 20,000 visitors annually, including busloads of schoolchildren. The Basin and Range monument alone, at more than 1,000 square miles, is almost the size of Rhode Island. The three new monuments are located in California, Texas and Nevada.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in California, where tourists and nature lovers will see more than 330,000 acres in northern California set aside.
The Berryessa Snow Mountain region is now officially a national monument.
He called the national parks and monuments “one of the great legacies of this incredible country”, something that is passed from generation to generation to preserve natural beauty and the nation’s history.
The waters of Cache Creek are among the area declared part of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument area.
Ken Starr, president and chancellor of Baylor University in Waco said, “This is an exciting day for our community and the great state of Texas and one we have been anticipating for many years”.
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And Clinton created the Hanford Reach National Monument in Eastern Washington, protecting the “White Bluffs of Hanford” and lands around the one upstream stretch of Columbia River than has not been dammed and turned into a reservoir. In addition, over 25 local and national recreation and conservation organizations support the increased status, including Tuleyome, The Wilderness Society, California Wilderness Coalition, and the Conservation Lands Foundation, among others.
